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This Column Explains It All
by James Glaser April 17, 2008 The following column was compiled by Margaret Griffis, for Antiwar.com: April 15, 2008 Tuesday: 2 Marines, 125 Iraqis Killed; 166 Iraqis WoundedUpdated at 11:38 p.m. EDT, April 15, 2008 The country was rocked by several car bombs as clashes resumed in Sadr City. At least 125 Iraqis were killed and 166 were wounded in the elevated violence. Also, two Marines were killed during combat operations in Anbar Province. In Baquba, as many as 53 were killed and at least 70 more were wounded during a car bombing near the courthouse. A suicide bomber killed 13 people and injured 20 more outside a kebab restaurant in Ramadi. Five policemen were killed and four more were wounded during a bombing at a checkpoint in the Hamidhiya area. Overnight clashes in Sadr City left as many as 16 dead and 26 wounded. U.S. forces reportedly killing 10 suspects, while police and hospital authorities reported the other casualties. Gunmen killed a bodyguard and wounded an aide to Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani during an assassination attempt in Basra. A civilian was killed and two more were wounded during an armed attack. Also, a Coalition air strike left four suspects dead and one more injured. In Mosul, a double car bombing killed three people and wounded at least 16 people. A stray bullet killed a schoolgirl inside her classroom. A roadside bomb wounded four policemen. Two Iraqi soldiers were injured during a roadside bombing. Also, gunmen killed a female lawyer and her sister. In a separate incident, three women and a man were killed after gunmen stormed their apartment. Another civilian was killed during an armed attack and a U.S. soldier was wounded during a roadside bombing. Five people were killed and two were wounded during an armed attack on a village near Karbala. Women were among the dead, and 150 people were forced to flee. Fourteen homes were destroyed. In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting a police patrol killed four people and wounded 15 in a central neighborhood. Two civilians were killed and two more were wounded in Karrada. Mortars injured two people in Dolai. Mortars struck the Green Zone. Also, three bodies were found. Clashes took place near Khanaqin after border guards discovered smugglers using mules to bring bombs across the border from Iran. A cache of weapons was also found. The bodies of two al-Qaeda suspects were found in Balad Ruz. Five people were wounded during a bombin in Tuz. Al-Doum was attacked by gunmen believed to be from the Mahdi army. Five people were killed and six kidnapped. U.S. forces detained 18 suspects in northern and central Iraq. In al-Yayji, 21 suspects were arrested. Five more were detained in al-Maarid and al-Wassiti. A raid in al-Katoun netted an al-Qaeda leader. Ten suspects were detained around Baquba. In Diwaniya, 25 suspects were arrested. Twelve were detained in Aziziya. A U.S. Humvee was destroyed in Diwaniya, but there is no word on casualties. Compiled by Margaret Griffis
We are now in our sixth year of combat in Iraq. Soon, it will have been five years since President Bush gave his Mission Accomplished speech (May 1, 2003) on that aircraft carrier, and every day since then there has been more and more innocent blood shed in Iraq. Try and think back to how crazy America went on 9/11. Iraq has been in a constant state like that for over five years, plus we attacked them. This was an unprovoked war! How much longer do we expect the Iraqi people to live the way we have forced them to live without the whole country going nuts? Now, go back and read the column, look at all the death, and think how you feel. Think of the little bit of fear that creeps in when you read your local paper and it covers a story about a murder in your home town. Margaret's column covers just part of the story of what we have created for daily life in Iraq each and every day. Think of the fear the Iraqi people live with. Consider how our President George Bush, and Republican Candidate John McCain keep telling us that things in Iraq are getting better. They both believe as do many in Washington and as do all the people getting rich off of this war, that the Iraqi people will be better off if they live with this kind of horror for several more years. That could be five years, ten years, or as John McCain has said, 100 more years. This war in Iraq is America's war. We started it, and we have kept it going. Maybe the American people have not come to believe that, but the rest of the world sure has. |
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